Suspected purse snatchers caught in Chesterfield Township

With the help of a witness, Chesterfield Township police arrested two men for stealing a woman’s purse while she walked in a parking lot.

Guy Peterson, 20, of Eastpointe, and Tyrel Green, 22, of Chesterfield Township, were found hiding at Georgetown Apartments in Chesterfield Township, police said. After their arrest, they pleaded not guilty in 42-2 District Court in New Baltimore on charges of unarmed robbery and conspiracy, both 15-year felonies.

Detective Sgt. Deron Myers said police received a 911 phone call at 5:30 p.m. Thursday from a witness who saw a woman being robbed while walking to her car parked in a lot next to the Halloween City store at 23 Mile and Gratiot Avenue.

The woman later told police she heard footsteps rapidly coming toward her from behind and later saw a man identified as Peterson rip her purse from her shoulder and run south through the parking lot, Myers said.

A Shelby Township man, who was sitting in his vehicle in the parking lot, saw the crime and chased the suspect through the parking lot toward the east. The man told police he saw the purse snatcher meet up with another man and walk into the apartment complex on 23 Mile Road east of Gratiot.

Police were directed by area witnesses to an apartment where they found Peterson and Green hiding in a closet.

Myers said officers found the woman’s wallet, checkbook and credit cards in the apartment.

“Our hats off to the Shelby Township man did a fabulous job of getting involved and helping us apprehend two street criminals who were preying on innocent people — especially elderly people,” Myers said. “The people who told us where the suspects went didn’t know they had just snatched an innocent victim’s purse.”